Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-03-03
OLD FAITHFUL.
Ths Regularity with Which YelloWseons1
Mort Famous GeYser Aaserts ItseG


Most Famous Geyser Asserts ITSELF
Old Faithful. the pet geyser Of tho
upper basin, is situated only few rods
from the hotel. You hear it splashing
in the night. and, if you have kept
your reckoning. can actually tell the
hour-he is so regular in his action.
Never was a geyser better named.
once every sixty minutes. without fail.
he asserts himself. The mouth of Old
Faithful protrudcs somewhat, as If he
were always ready to spout. His is a
generous mouth. six feet by two. and
twelve feet above the level of the
plateau; but the face of him is also dis
tended, as if fixed in the act of blow.
ing, and the slope to the lips covers an
area of AS by 2l5 feet. You may walk
up to the mouth of Old Faithful and
look down his throat if you like. There
is nothing visible but passage full Of
water. You may drop in handker.
chief or any bit of cloth and watch ii
become saturated and sink from view:
then YOU can walk a few rods away and
sit down under the bushes, and, if it is
near the hour of eruption. your wisest
way is to do this Immediately. Not
that there is any particular danger in
delay. for even had Old Faithful begun
operations there would be time to run
out of reach-but it is so pretty to
watch him at safe distance, and Their
it is only from distance that one gets
any idea of the height of the geysel
column. Now by looking at your watch
You will note that it is time for the old
fellow to begin; &c does not vary ten
minutes one way or the other during
the four and twenty hours. With watch
in hand you listen for the preliminary
rumble. There it is! A kind of chok.
ing sound in his throat and moaning
as of intestinal disturbances; this is
followed by spluttcr and stopping
over that is like futile attempt.
For a moment you lose confidence:
you begin to fear that his day is over
for every geyser has his day, and
sooner or later that day comes to al
cnd-and this eruption is bound to be
a failure. His reputation is ut stake,
and he knows it, for after half-dOzen
abortive dischargcs-abOrtive when
compared to what he has done and can
do when he is in geM form, but such as
would make fame and fortune for
spring outside of he Yellowstone re.
gion-after Tuning and frctting and
catching his breath and retching for
three or four minutes he gets mad, and
bang! he is off, with column of water
that curls outward on every side in a
capital and wells itself in
clouds of whirling vapor. Higher and
higher it climbs, as if endeavoring to
Guido himself. You see he is redeem
ing his reputation, until at last its top
most wave seems actually to catch an
azure beauty from the sky and to leave
part of its diamond dust aloft, there to
be absorbed by the sunshine. In five
he is satisfied; he has exhaust
ed his enthusiasm and his resources mt
the same moment, and he quietly, but
and with great dignity
subsidies with an audible sigh. He
steams vigorously for little while and
pants as from sheer fatigue, but shortly
he is as quiet rs if he had never done
any thing out of the common, and
he does it SO easily and SO naturally
that it is hard to believe that he has.
just before the eruption the water in
Old Faithful's throat stood at Il temper.
allure of 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Now
it is down to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
That little freshest yonder is the sur
plus, the overflow from this small
now fastening to the river in
the head of the valley. Here is the
you dropped into the gey.
ser before the eruption. 1t has been
thrown thirty feet from the lips of the
crater; had the wind been blowing il
might have lodged fifty or hundred
feet farther yet away; it looks a tangled
skein; but for the knot You thoughtful
ly tied in it perhaps there would not
have been threads enough of it left to-
gether to warrant Identification. Not
the regularity with which
Old Faithful attends to his duties he is
seldom twice the same in appearance.
The slightest wind sweeps the descend
ing water to considerable distance
and spreads it in many graceful and
beautiful pattern, sometimes he re-
a colossal ostrich plume of the
most dazzling whIteness. The real
feather is not lighter or more suscep-
tible to the influence of the Winds
There are many geysers within range
of Old Faithful. Sometimes it seems
almost as if a rivalry must exist among
them. for one will start off with grand
flourish, and no sooner has it got under
good Roadway than another. which
perhaps has been anxiously wa tching
;or some hours and seems to be obsti-
nately refusing to do its duty-no
sooner does the one call for admiration
han the other bursts magniiicently